Watch Dogs Release Date Scheduled For March?

Ubisoft's open-world hacking game Watch Dogs could be just a couple months away. The latest issue of Official Xbox Magazine (via Reddit) says that the launch is now scheduled for March.

Watch Dogs was once planned as a launch title for the Xbox One and PS4. A month before its scheduled launch, though, Ubisoft announced that they were pushing the game to Spring 2014.

"We have adopted the attitude that we will not compromise on quality," the development team said in October. "As we got closer to release, as all the pieces of the puzzle were falling into place in our last push before completion, it became clear to us that we needed to take the extra time to polish and fine tune each detail so we can deliver a truly memorable and exceptional experience."

Analyst Michael Pachter speculated that Ubisoft wanted to release the game in a less competitive season. If Watch Dogs had debuted in November, it would have launched against high-profile sequels like Call of Duty: Ghosts and Battlefield 4. The potential competition also included Ubisoft's own Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, another open-world adventure.

March isn't exactly a slow period, either. Other releases in that month include Dark Souls 2, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and Titanfall. If nothing else, Ubisoft avoids the awkward situation of releasing two very similar games on top of one another.

OXM's new preview is the only indication we've seen so far that Watch Dogs is coming in March. Retailers are less optimistic. Best Buy, Amazon and GameStop all list the release date as June 30th. That's likely just a placeholder date, though. It's possible that OXM's estimate is best on more current information acquired from Ubisoft.